31st December: After what seem like ages it's dry enough to get both cars out briefly for a turn around the block, just to rotate the wheels and finish off the checks after steering column and UJ work.

December: After yet again finding play in the steering column UJ in September I had bought a one-piece alternative similar to the RB UJ and finally get round to fitting it, which needs an adjustment to the positioning of the steering column outer as this UJ is 1/4" shorter than the original assembly. That done and no play reveals play in the rack shaft which could be the pinion shimming despite this rack (2nd replacement) only having been fitted in October.

November: In the colder weather Vee seemed to be cranking a little slower so I decided to check the volt drop between engine and body and found it was about 1.3v, so time to fit an earth strap.

October: I embark on an investigation of Vee's gearbox problems, and a dismantle reveals all.

I eventually get and fit a second replacement rack from Motaclan after the first replacement in January got the same advisory in August of worn inner joints and the steering arms were floppy.

September 22nd: Vulcan XH558 - Classic Car photo-shoot.

An opportunity to visit XH558 for an explore round the aircraft including in the cockpit, and photos of your car in front - not to be missed. Bee was photographed with a Jaguar strike aircraft in 2002 so this was an opportunity for Vee. Probably only available while Robin Hood airport is closed down, unlikely to allow cars airside of an operational airport, not even possible at an airfield like Sywell when I was there for a Spitfire flight. Places sold out very quickly but I contacted them and was able to get a cancellation.

After a very long dry (but not particularly warm) spell Sunday September 22nd was the day it broke, and driving up the M42 and A42 the rain was torrential, with traffic slowing to 30mph at one point. As we got on the M1 it started easing off, and by the time we got to Robin Hood it was dry. After signing in and rules for the day "Don't go on the grass - there are adders!" at the office we convoyed through security and onto the apron with the cars lined up down each side. A dry afternoon with just the odd spot of rain - but a Morgan without a roof had special dispensation to park under the wing just in case! Cars called up to the front one at a time while people queued for a cockpit visit or just wandered round taking pictures of XH558. Just after she was grounded I paid to have mine and grandson's names put 'under the wing' so decided to try and find it - and found them in five minutes as it was on the undercarriage cover hanging down right in front of where we were parked! You would think people would keep an eye on things to see when they were next for the picture in pride of place and be ready to move their car - but no. The Vulcan volunteers had to go round asking "Who's is the Stag?" to try and keep some kind of order, people have no consideration for others these days. The Navigator went up into the cockpit with another couple, the female half of which kept ooh-ing and ahh-ing and asking questions, in the end the guide had to ask them to leave as otherwise they would never get through the line of people waiting. Shortly after that it was our turn for the photos - ready in the car and waiting! By mid-afternoon we had seen everything bar the running of the jet engine in the starter truck (the engines are spun-up with air pressure before fuel is turned on and ignited), but we had a 2-hour journey back home so left it at that.

And it rained all the way back down the M1. Vee's glass sunroof has always tended to leak if left parked in the rain but usually driving off it clears, but this time it just kept dripping and then running - fortunately onto my head and not the Navigator's or she would not have been happy. Tried catching it in a duster but after a while gave up and let it run down my neck and onto my arm and leg. Oh well, clothes dry, skin is waterproof. This time it gave over as we left the M1 and things started drying up. Vee almost dry (externally ...) until we got to the Solihull junction off the M42 then it started raining again. Fortunately not much, the underneath was still pretty dry, and only took five minutes to leather her off when putting her back in the garage with Bee. 210 miles so the first long journey with the new gearbox, no problems other than getting a bit damp! I did notice the (instantaneous) voltmeter dipping down a volt or so every now and again and wondered if the alternator was playing up, but then noticed it coincided with the Smartscreen triggering the intermittent wipers. Oddly it doesn't do it starting them manually with Smartscreen disabled so not the wipers themselves. However when I fitted the Smartscreen I picked up a fused ignition supply for it, which is daisy-chained onto the voltmeter, whereas the wipers themselves are powered from the accessories circuit and a different fuse. So will have to investigate the Smartscreen supply to see if it is a bit iffy.

September 17th: Annual service for Vee, and wonder of wonders both wheel cylinders working as they should. But annoyed to have lost my original brake adjuster spanner. I have a ratchet type which is useful for many turns when setting the shoes up from scratch but a fiddle to keep reversing the ratchet for final adjustment, the 'solid' one makes that easy. Had it for Bee's service in July, the only thing I can think of is that I left it on the adjuster when refitting the wheel (stupid boy) and of course it isn't there now! Will have to get another.

Near-side front damper 'misted' so will need changing, Leacy no longer do rebuilt so it means double postage for an exchange from elsewhere, or about five-times the price for new outright.

Took the opportunity to put the rack front bolts the right way round i.e. up from below and not down from the top like the rears, and photograph the blob of weld inside the bracket that holds the head still while tightening/slackening the nut.

Mazda 5-speed prop-shaft has nipples on the UJs but the sliding section is in the rear seal instead of there being a bolted flange so no third nipple (unlike the 'Francisco Scaramanga' with the original gearbox ...). The nipples were painted over, needed quite a bit of pressure on the grease gun before they opened, they let in about one stroke before further resistance so I stopped there.

Crawling underneath from the back I couldn't see a gearbox level/filler plug, but MX5 info seems to show it quite close to the engine and on the other side to the original i.e. passenger side, also that it is a 14mm square head (another foray confirmed that) so will need an open-ended spanner. Nowhere near as convenient as a hex for a ring spanner, and some say it's a b*gger to shift needing butchering with Stilsons. Hopefully after not much more than 100 miles level will be correct and the plug not seized!

Also noted was the discarded crossmember bolts were not refitted to retain the plates in the chassis rails as mentioned in the instructions for owner-installation, but no rattles noticed.

August: Bee's 2nd replacement rack also gets an advisory of worn inner joints.

August 15th: Vee comes back with a 5-speed ... and the old gearbox in the back!.

August: More on the 78 GT - choke control ... and finished!

August 5th: Vee goes into Vitesse for the 5-speed conversion.

August 4th: Visit Prescott Bugatti Owners Club for the first time since 2002.

July 3: More on the 78 GT - installing the USB socket, but most the time spent getting Lola running again - electrical problems.

July 24th - servicing Bee. The oil filler cap didn't seem to fit correctly and I noticed one of the lugs that should go under the pins in the rocker cover had been pushed up so that side wasn't down as far as it should be, neither would it turn as far as it needed to. New one ordered.

I find one piston seized in the new-looking wheel cylinder on the offside rear brake - not the first time it has happened. I can lever it round with a screwdriver in the slot with some force but if the bore is corroded it will abrade the rubber seal so will have to be replaced. It seems they either leak or seize like this, they don't last very long at all, but I have a spare having bought two last time! This time I'll put rubber grease on the outer part of the pistons under the dust covers.

While underneath I noticed the exhaust middle hanger U-strap has fractured both sides of the tab I welded to it so I could use a clamp there as well to stop the pipe fretting in the strap, which both Bee and Vee used to do. Probably the welding had work-hardened the strap just there, I had a note from years ago that MGOC did a strap with a tab albeit it looked a bit thin, looking again it's more substantial in stainless steel albeit at about double the cost, but preferable to welding a tab to a plain strap again, albeit needing the tab to be curved a bit to fit the pipe before it would go back together.

July 2: More on the 78 GT - rear-view camera, USB socket, distributor.

July 17th - I test-drive a Vitesse Mazda 5-speed conversion.

July 8th-11th - Norfolk. Enjoyed last year so much we booked again, this time further south beyond Cromer at Mundesley. Went through Holt as before, but coming at the end of a long drive the extra 17 miles seemed to take forever although a caravan and a motor home in front didn't help. Lovely day given the weather we've had lately, top-down all the way, with a lunch break at Sacrewell Farm as before - very 'convenient'!

The Ship (another one) right on the cliff top this time with our room facing out to sea, large and modern. Meals OK, basic pub grub, but really expensive for what they were - £9 for starter and pud, £18-22 for mains plus £4 for any sides. Staff very nice, slept well, waves on the sea shore very soothing. Heavy rain several times overnight but expected to I'd put Bee's cockpit cover on over the hood which stops it coming in round the upper half of the doors when parked.

Next day expected to be showery so we caught the bus to Cromer - a pleasant town, much nicer than Sheringham. Spent a couple of hours wandering round the town, pier and promenade, coffee in the RNLI cafe, sitting and gazing out to sea. Back early afternoon for a relax in the room, then a wander up and down the beach at Mundesley - miles of golden sand in both directions. Back to the hotel for a drink and more gazing out to sea from the garden, then back up to the room for another rest before dinner. Tough, this holidaying lark.

Next day we went to Happisburgh ('Haiseburgh') where son and family have stayed in the lighthouse cottages for several years. More wandering along deserted sandy beaches. The wind is coming off the land so down on the beach in the shelter of the cliffs was pleasant walking. Saw something that looked like a large control valve sticking up out of the water and I wondered if it was a sewage outlet despite being on an unoccupied part of the coast. Back at the car park looking at the info saw it was a Time and Tide Bell that sounds at high tide, one of eleven (sixteen planned apparently) around the UK. In the afternoon back to Mundesley for a walk round the village, then a drink in the pub garden in warm sunshine.

Next day home, dull, but the radar indicated we should get a good way before risk of rain. However just a few miles in light intermittent rain started. By Kings Lynn it was getting heavier so pulled into a Sainsbury's to refuel and put the top up. We'd done about 200 miles by the time we started for home and the fuel gauge was still on half which made me think it had stuck, but was still going up and down round bends. In the event from full at the start to clicking off but maybe not quite so full it had averaged 44mpg (filling again on our return it was 37mpg). Stayed up the rest of the way, intermittent rain, and just as we thought we might get home dry ran into some more, the last bit on the M42 and true to form three lanes of very slow traffic. Some sun now so Bee dried off pretty quickly and virtually none on the surface by the time we got home. 370 miles, no problems as such but the starter had tapped me on the shoulder three times as a reminder to have a look at it on our return.

July: More on the 78 GT - rear-view camera.

July: More gearbox problems for Vee.

June 3: More on the 78 GT - Yee-hah!

June 2: More on the 78 GT - screen trim - oh boy!

June: On the way to Leamington Spa in Vee to see the newly fledged Peregrine Falcons I noticed the odometer had just clicked over to (2)30000 miles with the digits not having got back in line yet. Then going to Geoff's noticed it was ... exactly the same - buggah. Speed still registering so not cable, must be odo jammed. Fixed that, then driving to Geoff's saw the odo ticking over but no speedo! Double-buggah!! However a moments thought reminded me that the LED illumination bulb that is fitted is longer and has to be spaced back a bit or it fouls the alloy disk that moves the pointer, and I'd pushed it in a bit too far.

June: More on the 78 GT - although the visit was primarily to help Geoff's son-in-law fit a new radiator to his Lola T70. Dropped off a couple of deliveries for Geoff including front screen trim, discussed the finer points of fitting that, and did a couple of tests on ignition voltages for my own interest.

June 9th: - Ratae Run - made it to this one.

Nearly 90 miles through some lovely countryside from Broughton Astley to Statfold Barn Railway near Tamworth in Staffs. Pretty cold and windy, a little sun in patches, but apart from one short spell needing the wipers (hood down of course ...) it was dry. Very well organised, lots of marshals at the beginning, mid-way stop at a garden centre and at the end. Generous with bacon/sausage cobs or croissants at the start and drinks at the three places (although the queue at the garden centre was so long we didn't bother as we had a picnic lunch and a flask of tea with us). One incorrect instruction showing a straight ahead instead of a right turn at a crossroads had us retracing our steps a bit, and another to turn opposite a post box when there was no turning ... but a couple of hundred yards up the road I could just see another post box (odd ...), so same mileage point, and that did have the turning.

Statfold is quite a large narrow-gauge railway with probably a couple of mile of track, about a dozen engines 'in steam' running several services of carriages around a loop with various stations to get off and have a wander round. A very large engine 'shed' with a turntable and a couple of dozen other engines of various types all in restored condition radiating off it, and other railway rolling stock. One was a wooden model of a tank on a carriage, the Navigator wondered if it was for carrying tanks but it was only a light-weight frame on wheels so I couldn't see it. Round to the front and I was gobsmacked to see it was a towed target for training anti-tank gunners in WW2 at Lydd, and is what my father-in-law Harry Munn was describing he fired at before being shipped to France with the ill-fated BEF in January 1940. Another slightly smaller building containing steam-powered agricultural and earth-moving equipment, all looking as if they were runners, and a couple of 'portable' (towed from place to place) steam engines running outside. A very good place to finish the run.

Heading back home it looked like rain so hood up and we did get some but barely enough to wet the road. 166 miles so quite a bit considering it was a 'local' run but a good day out for Bee, trouble-free as usual. One success was my door no longer rattling over poor surfaces (of which there were plenty in the last few miles ...) since I had pushed some round mains flex into the seal last month.

We had pencilled-in The Cotswold Caper on 14th July but waited to see how we got on with 'one-dayers' before booking, and because we had to cancel Rose of the Shires it's not until now we were in a position to book - and it's closed to further entries. Oh well, next year perhaps.

May 2: More on the 78 GT - after a bit of a hiatus for one thing and another I manage to get another visit in on the 31st this time for brake pedal spring, driver's side courtesy light, servo, front screen locking-strip.

May 12th: - not the Rose of the Shires. Booked, but subsequently a family funeral occurred the next day with a long journey to Yorkshire and back and two early mornings in a row and two full days in a car didn't appeal. Maybe next year.

May 1: More on the 78 GT - pedal 'blocks', carb overflows, wiper arms, passenger seat.

April 4: More on the 78 GT - heater and pedal 'blocks'.

April 3: More on the 78 GT - pedal 'blocks'.

April 14th: A glorious sunny morning so the first proper 'Sunday paper' run through Warwickshire's highways and byways in Bee since September last year, due to the weather over the past six months.

April 2: More on the 78 GT - fuel pump 12v supply, HRW and heater air direction control.

April: More on the 78 GT - sump plug drip, intermittent reversing lights, fuel pump.

March 31st: Still dry but cloudy, so Vee gets an hour out on Sunday morning paper-trip. A new spot of oil under the engine, this time from the front of the bell-housing. Doesn't smell like gear oil from the gearbox so maybe rear crank seal, but I'll need to get underneath to see if it might be coming from higher up. Don't know whether I can face the three days needed to get this engine out again.

March 30th: A rare opportunity to get Bee out for an hour on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

March 3: More on the 78 GT - battery and cables, number-plate light, reversing lights!

March 16th: 'At last' again - Bee and Vee escape for another 20 mins each!

March 2: More on the 78 GT - underseal, rear brakes, passenger seat, battery/starter cabling, plus bits and pieces.

March: More on the 78 GT - exhaust mounts, gearbox top-up, axle level plug.

Late Feb: Weather too cold and wet to work on the GT, just dropping off new parts.

Feb 3: More on the 78 GT - Oils and filter, front suspension, general check underneath - a couple of issues with the exhaust.

Mid-Feb: More on the 78 GT - finally refitted the gear knob cap, replaced the heat control cable (what a surprise that was ...), but still struggling to get the passenger drop-glass going up and down smoothly.

Early-Feb: More on the 78 GT - it runs and drives! And Bee and Vee get another brief drive in a window of opportunity.

Mid-Jan: More on the 78 GT - floor insulated, carpeted, seats replaced.

Jan 6th: At last, after a couple of days of no rain but roads still very damp the busier roads finally dry up enough by the afternoon to get the cars out for half an hour each. 'Thrupenny-bit' tyres put off for another month or so.

January: Still raining ... Clonks and play in Bee's steering rack and a couple of advisories of inner joints worn to I replace the rack - which ended up a bit of a saga.

Although we announced our retirement after the Brunel Run last year we have decided to have another go with one day local runs to see if we are still OK doing the runs themselves, just giving up on the weekend travelling. Most are on a Sunday, so should be quiet getting to the start in the mornings, and we'll see how we get on with travelling back mid-to late afternoons which we know can be busy.

This years Christmas jigsaw - Pickering station by David Noble.